Families flock to Cacia's Bakery for turkey-cooking tradition in South Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Cacia's Bakery continued its Thanksgiving Day tradition of cooking turkeys in the brick oven for dozens of customers.

It was a dark and early start for customers with turkeys in hand outside of Cacia's Bakery in South Philadelphia.

This year, Action News noticed several methods used to carry heavy turkeys while waiting in line.

A mother carried a pan on top of her head with her sleeping back strapped in a holder in front of her.

And speaking of baby, a man used a stroller to transport not one, but two turkeys.

There was even a turkey in a wagon that was nicely wrapped in aluminum foil ready to be cook in the bakery's brick oven.

Customers did what needed to be done for a perfectly cooked bird.

"This is my first time, I'm going to try it," said Kathleen Philip of Nicetown. "Everybody says it's good and if it's good I'll be back next year."

Cacia's Bakery has been around for more than 70 years taking pre-seasoned turkeys on Thanksgiving Day and baking them in the 18 x 15 foot brick oven.

Third-generation Sam Cacia said the oven produces delicious results.

"It creates its own steam and it slow roasts and this way the meat stays moist," Sam Cacia said.

Customers just need to bring in a pre-seasoned turkey in a metal pan and pay $30 for it to be cooked.

The turkeys go in right next to the usual assortments of bread, rolls, pizza, and stromboli.

"Anything that fits in a pan that's too big for your oven, we can do throughout the whole year. We don't have to do it just on Thanksgiving," Sam Cacia said.

This year, they received 115 turkeys and are getting closer to the normal amount seen before the pandemic.

"The year before Covid we did 145 and after that obviously it went down," said 4th generation Joe Cacia.

Joe Cacia said starting Thanksgiving at the bakery is how it's always been for him and something he looks forward to.

"We go home have our turkey, we have our own family to be with. We enjoy relaxing, watching football, but we enjoy being a part of people's traditions," Joe Cacia said.